"Men… think in herds … they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one."

Guantánamo Files: The Camp No Records (Part Two)

by Naomi Colvin

Excerpts from the records of the three men who died on the night of 9-10 June 2006. For background on what transpired that night, please see my earlier post. Should you wish to read further, Scott Horton’s piece for Harpers is highly recommended, as are two reports produced by Seton Hall University School of Law in 2009 and 2010 which shed considerable light on the official narrative.

c. (FOUO) Detainee’s Conduct: The detainee is assessed as a HIGH threat from a detention perspective. The detainee’s overall behavior has been non-compliant and hostile to the guard force and staff. The detainee currently has 113 Reports of Disciplinary Infraction listed in DIMS. Incidents for which the detainee has been disciplined include assault, failure to follow instructions/camp rules, using provoking words and gestures with the guards, threatening the life of a guard, damage to property, inciting a disturbance, exposing himself to guards, possession of both weapon and non-weapon type contraband, and cross block talking. The detainee had 12 Reports of Disciplinary Infraction for assault in 2005. The detainee’s most recent assault was committed on 13 November 2005 when he punched a guard in the jaw upon being returned to his cell. The detainee has numerous cases of verbal harassment and threats towards guards. On 11 June 2005, the detainee yelled out to a member of Camp Delta staff, “9/11 you not forget, 9/l1 you not forget” and then started laughing. On 11 July 2005, detaineet old a guard that he would use a knife to cut his stomach open, cut his face off, and then drink his blood, smiling and laughing as he said it. The detainee was a major participant in the voluntary total fast of 2005-2006. The detainee has notes of conducting PT, to include combative type training, and at least twice has taunted guards claiming to want a fight.

Al-Zahrani was assessed as presenting a medium threat and being of low intelligence value (with all appropriate provisos as to the objective reliability of those assessments, which is minimal).

c. (S/ /NF) Detainee’s Conduct : Detainee has a number of cases where he has failed to comply with the rules of the cellblock and the guard force. He has assaulted the guards, incited disturbances, and used sign language to communicate with detainees in other cells. Overall, detainee’s behavior has been belligerent, argumentative, harassing, and very aggressive.

Al-Utaybi was also assessed as presenting a medium level of threat and being of low intelligence value.

(S) Detainee’s Conduct : This detainee has a history of aggressive behavior in the camp, often defiant ly failing to comply with instruc ion

Ahmed was assessed as presenting a high level of threat and of being of “medium to high” intelligence value.

Finally, Shaker Aamer, who is the last detainee with British connections to remain at Guantánamo has told his lawyer that he was taken to Camp No on the night of 9-10 June and subjected to “advanced interrogation techniques” including asphyxiation. It has been suggested that this may explain why Aamer has yet to be released into the custody of the British Government.

c. (S//NF) Detainee’s Conduct: Detainee is assessed to be a HIGH threat from a detention perspective. Detainee’s overall behavior has been non-compliant and hostile to the guard force and staff. Detainee currently has 137 Reports of Disciplinary Infraction listed in DIMS with the most recent occurring on 9 October 2007, when he was reported to have verbally harassed the guard force while being moved from his cell to the shower. Detainee has 10 Reports of Disciplinary Infraction for assault the last incident occurring on 26 April 2007, when he spat on and splashed a guard with water after the guard told him to stop slamming his door. Other incidents for which detainee has been disciplined include unauthorized communications, provoking words and gestures, threat, inciting disturbance, failure to follow instructions and camp rules, damage to government property, and possession of contraband. Detainee had a total of thirty Reports of Disciplinary Infraction in2006, and forty-two so far in 2007. Although not as much of a direct physical threat to the guard force as other detainees, he can summon support from over one half of Camp Delta’s detainee population.

The US still holds that Shaker Aamer presents a high risk to the US, its interests and allies and that he has information of high value to US intelligence. Despite this, Aamer was cleared for release under the Bush Administration – most likely because those assessments were based on confessions obtained under torture.

It is remarkable that all four of these case files show serious concerns about each man’s behaviour under detention, whether from violence or the potential to mobilise dissent within the camp – there is certainly more consistency on that score than there is on these men’s value as potential sources of intelligence. All of which makes the events of 9-10 June 2006 even more worrying – if that were possible.

2 Comments to “Guantánamo Files: The Camp No Records (Part Two)”

[…] that Shaker had been held in solitary confinement for 360 days at the time of filing, and was tortured by beatings, exposure to temperature extremes, and sleep deprivation, which together caused him to […]

[…] that Shaker had been held in solitary confinement for 360 days at the time of filing, and was tortured by beatings, exposure to temperature extremes, and sleep deprivation, which together caused him to […]